Decision not to prosecute Jimmy Savile in 2009 to be reviewed again

A decision taken in 2009 not to proceed with a potential prosecution on child abuse allegations against
Jimmy Savile is to be reviewed again, the director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer has confirmed.

A police inquiry into claims of sexual abuse of children against Jimmy Savile has been launched (Picture: PA)

David Cameron announced the move at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, saying it was essential that lessons were learned from the scandal.

‘The government will do everything it can do, other institutions must do what they can do, to make sure that we learn the lesson of this and it can never happen again,’ he said.

In 2009, two years before former presenter and DJ Savile died aged 84, Surrey police handed four files to prosecutors but they concluded it was not possible to launch a prosecution as the alleged victims would not ‘support’ it.

Mr Starmer said he had asked Roger Coe-Salazar, chief crown prosecutor for the south-east, to re-examine the files for a second time ‘out of an abundance of caution’.

‘He has assured me that the decisions taken at the time were the right decisions based on the information and evidence then available,’ he said.

Mr Starmer added: ‘This is not a straightforward issue but I have said to the attorney general that I would like to discuss with him whether the CPS should adopt a policy of referring cases to other relevant agencies, such as social services, where an allegation is made but cannot be proceeded with for evidential reasons.’

Meanwhile the NSPCC has said 161 calls it received relating to Savile have been passed to police, as well as another 105 not directly related to the late presenter.